For artists, it is almost impossible to shed art tradition completely because their previous knowledge, impressions, ideas, and universal symbols influence their future works. Although Abstract Expressionist artists tried to reject the European art tradition as their reaction to World War II, they still referred to earlier traditions, symbols, and images. For example, in Man Looking at Woman (1949), Adolph Gottlieb used the symbols associated with hieroglyphic forms, and Lee Krasner in Untitled (1949) used a variety of symbolic shapes (“Abstract Expressionism,” n.d.). These paintings are similar to ancient traditions and examples of primitive art. When trying to reconsider their approach to art, Abstract Expressionist artists rejected the tradition associated with the horrors of war, but they could not avoid the influence of conventional rules completely.
It is possible to state that artists are usually bound to the tradition, but not to the previous one in all cases. When, for instance, Clyfford Still, Barnett Newman, and Norman Lewis created their artworks, they were influenced by the tradition of referring to archetypes and the collective unconscious (“Abstract Expressionism,” n.d.). While using abstract images, the artists tried to reject all the conventional principles of creating art, but they still referred to some kind of trada ition when generating a new art movement in the United States. Furthermore, it is almost impossible to ignore the fact that the Abstract Expressionist artists were rather greatly influenced by World War II and its consequences because of using extremely dark palettes and abstraction in their works.
References
Abstract Expressionism. (n.d.). MoMA Learning. Web.